2024 NLG #Law4thePeople Convention

Sponsored by the Alabama NLG Chapter.

There has been a growing movement across the South to remove or remove monuments to the Confederacy or to place them in historic context. Many have been removed, many more remain and many defend them. Alabama has passed a "Monument Preservation Act," making it unlawful to remove or alter monuments, schools, streets, etc. This panel will discuss both political advocacy and potential litigation around Confederate monuments and how the two can augment each other.

Speakers:
David Gespass (past NLG president)
Haley Czarnek (NLG member who, as student researched possible constitutional challenge to Monument Preservation Act) Camille Bennett (founder and ED of Project Say Something)

This meeting is for any current member of the NLG Environmental Justice Committee.

Sponsored by Greater Birmingham Ministries.

Toforest Johnson is a Black man who has spent more than 25 years on death row in Alabama and is at risk of being executed for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy despite the fact that even the prosecutor who put him on death row believes he should have a new trial. The Birmingham community has rallied in support of Mr. Johnson, whose case illustrates the tragically daunting challenge of undoing a “settled” murder case – even when almost everyone involved has serious doubts about the integrity of the conviction.

We intend the workshop to focus on two related topics: (1) the failure of the legal system to provide remedies in the postconviction context, even when the jurisdiction’s own law enforcement leaders no longer stand by a conviction; and (2) the role that community organizing efforts can play in complementing litigation efforts to raise awareness about injustice in the criminal legal system and capital cases in particular.

The current Jefferson County District Attorney recently publicly called for a new trial, based in part on the fact that prosecutors presented five different and mutually exclusive theories at various proceedings for the murder of Deputy Hardy. His most recent filing (from May 20 of this year) also identified his interviews with the lead trial prosecutor, interviews with alibi witnesses, and recently discovered information that the state’s primary witness received payment for her testimony (which was not known at trial and was withheld from Mr. Johnson’s attorneys for over 17 years) as reasons for his decision to request a new trial. Mr. Johnson has always maintained his innocence. (https://www.toforestjohnson.com/).

Speakers:
Akeriya Terry (“Muffin”), Toforest Johnson’s daughter [she/her/hers]
Scott Douglas, Executive Director at Greater Birmingham Ministries [he/him/his]
Beth Shelburne, Investigative Reporter [she/her/hers]

This meeting is for any current member of the NLG Mass Incarceration Committee.